Let's be friends

I was with my last girlfriend for about 3 years when she suddenly broke it off. She gave me the "let's be friends" line too, but after 3 years of being something more than friends, I couldn't do it. The way I look at it, there are not many reasons for wanting to be friends in a situation like ours, and I don't like any of them.

I figure the reason she tried it is because she wanted to avoid confrontation and have the break up be amicable, but she didn't really intend to stay friends. It's also possible that she really did want to be friends, but as I said, I couldn't do that. I wouldn't put it past her to complain about my replacement to me, which would bring out the fury. I can definitely hear myself saying "you only have yourself to blame--I never did that". And even if she had the sense not to do that, the constant reminder of what I had and lost would eat away at me.

Anyway, certain circumstances (beyond just breaking up with me) caused me to be particularly pissed off about the whole thing, and I told her I never wanted to see her face again. It's been about a year and a half now and I haven't heard a word from her since then. I'm probably not really over it either... I don't really want to go into the details, but I feel justified in being bitter in this case.

I really respect those of you who have been able to maintain friendships with your exes. Chalk it up to a lack of maturity or just a character flaw, but I'm pretty damn sure I couldn't do that. I normally have a pretty cool head about things like this (and in general), but I just don't think I could ever distance myself from the situation enough to get rid of the awkwardness (or malice, in my case). Even if I initiated a breakup, I think I would still have difficulty being friendly (but not too friendly) with an ex.

Jam it back in, in the dark.